In physiotherapy, in particular orthopaedic physiotherapy, one may distinguish between active therapies and passive therapies. In active therapies, predetermined movements are performed by the patient in exercise and training sessions. In passive, or administered therapies, a patient is treated by manipulating one or more body parts. Two different types of administered treatment are distinguished: static therapies and dynamic therapies.
In a static therapy, a patients body part is brought in a predetermined position and a predetermined force is applied to the body part for a predetermined time to maintain the body part in that position. Such static treatment facilitates the use of apparatus to provide a controllable predetermined force (strength and direction) for a desired duration. E.g. various traction devices are available which may comprise a simple pulley. A more complex robotic traction device is disclosed in DE 20 2008 015 138.
In a dynamic therapy, the treated body part is maneuvered, along a predetermined trajectory, usually with predetermined velocity and/or force. This requires delicate control of the movement so as not to inflict pain or harm to the patient. Maneuvering a body part means moving, continuously or intermittently, the body part by external forces e.g. by another person such as the therapist.
For administering a dynamic therapy to the head and neck of a patient according to different methods, WO 2008/059497 discloses an apparatus for treating a patient body or an organ thereof, especially his/her head and neck, by controllably maneuvering said treated organ, comprising; a cradle adapted for holding said treated organ stably and comfortably; and a maneuverable platform upon which said cradle rests, comprising maneuvering means adapted for rotating the platform in the Sagittal, Coronal, Horizontal planes or in any combination of the planes thereof for a predetermined duration; wherein said maneuver of said organ is characterized by parameters selected from a set of Allowed Movements as defined in the document, where duration of motion in all cases is up to about 90 sec.
Due to the structure of the joint to be treated and/or due to patient limitations (flexibility, afflictions, pain, etc.), a therapeutic maneuvering trajectory may be complex. This is in particular the case for movement of the head, neck and shoulders which includes varying and moving centres of rotation and/or relative translations. To allow treatment of a neck the apparatus disclosed in WO 2008/059497 relies on serial linkage of motors as well as on biofeedback (muscle tension etc.) Thus the apparatus suffers from large size and complexity, as well as from accumulation of errors in position and orientation from one motor to the next, reducing accuracy of the position and orientation of the cradle. Such apparatus further tends to be expensive and may be intimidating to patients, preventing their relaxation during treatment which reduces effectiveness of the treatment.
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an improved apparatus for providing dynamic administered physiotherapeutic treatment. A further object is to provide an apparatus for improving determination of a spatial position, orientation of a body part and determination of a displacement.